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CNN Sunday Morning

School Year Begins in the New Iraq; A Look at Florida's Hurricane Insurance Business

Aired October 03, 2004 - 08:00   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.


DREW GRIFFIN, CNN ANCHOR: Here's what we have for you on CNN SUNDAY MORNING this hour. The school year begins in Iraq, this time with no U.S. tanks or soldiers guarding schools. Brent Sadler takes a look at education in the new Iraq.
John Zarrella looks at the state of the insurance business in Florida in the wake of four hurricanes.

And our new SUNDAY MORNING religion feature takes a look at the influence of Islam, the second largest religion in the world.

BETTY NGUYEN, CNN ANCHOR: Now the volcano experts are saying the Mt. St. Helens eruption Friday may have just been a warm up. CNN's Donna Tetreault is on the phone live from Castle Rock, Washington with the latest there this morning.

Good morning to you, Donna.

DONNA TETREAULT, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Betty. Well, there has been a lot of activity this weekend. The alert level was raised to three, and that means an eruption is imminent. Now scientist first thought magma, which is lava that hasn't yet made it to the ground wasn't moving to the surface. But after reexamination yesterday, scientists with the U.S.G.S discovered the magma was moving upward. And at noon yesterday a puff of steam spilled out of the crater.

The earthquakes have stopped, but a harmonic tremor was in play. This is a steady, even vibration moving fresh magma to the surface. And when there's that fresh magma at the surface, an explosion will follow. The harmonic tremor lasted for about 50 minutes. This is a very serious event.

All of this led to evacuations. The Johnson Ridge Visitors Center was evacuated along with the media, when scientist found that another eruption could happen at any time. And at this point, seven miles out is a safe distance away from the volcano.

Again, this is the most activity Mt. St. Helens has seen since 1980.

Betty.

NGUYEN: Let's talk about those evacuations. Are there any homes or businesses nearby that they're thinking about evacuating as well? TETREAULT: At this point the seven miles out is not -- there aren't any homes. The nearest city is Cougar and there has been some advisories that if there was some explosion with ash that could effect that area. But at this time point yesterday it was just the evacuations of that visitors center and the media.

NGUYEN: And the seismic activity this morning what has that been like? And is that similar to what happened just before the 1980 blast that killed 57 people? Are they comparing the two just yet?

TETREAULT: They have talked about a comparison. They've said that the seismic activity was the same. The difference here though is they said that the seismic activity, all the earthquakes were taking place in a more shallow area in the crater. It's not as deep as what had occurred in 1980.

But again this is all still a changing very precarious situation. And again they did say though that the earthquakes did start up again after that tremor.

NGUYEN: CNN's Donna Tetreault on the phone from Castle Rock, Washington watching what's going on with Mt. St. Helens, which is expected to have some kind of eruption sometime today.

GRIFFIN: The first poll taken since the first presidential debate is showing John Kerry making up some ground in "Newsweek" poll. The registered voters has Kerry with 47 percent support. George Bush 45 percent. Statistically that is a dead heat.

Bush led 49 to 43 percent in a "Newsweek" poll last month. Ralph Nader has 2 percent, as you can see.

And who do you think won the first debate? Sixty one percent of those polled think Kerry was the winner, 19 percent say it was the president, 16 percent say no winner or that it was a tie.

Who would make America more secure. George Bush says it is not John Kerry. At a campaign stop in Ohio he brought up Kerry comment from their first debate, when Kerry Kerry said "any preemptive strike by the U.S. should pass a global test." The president says that's not the way to go.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GEORGE W. BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Senator Kerry's approach to foreign policy, we give foreign governments veto power over national security decisions.

(APPLAUSE)

I have a different view.

(APPLAUSE)

When our country is in danger, the president's job is not to take an international poll. (APPLAUSE)

The presidents job is to defend America.

(APPLAUSE)

(END VIDEO CLIP)

GRIFFIN: The president is back in Washington. He has no public event son this day.

NGUYEN: John Kerry is firing back. When it comes to questions of national security, Kerry says George Bush's policies have hurt America's standing in the world especially among its allies. Kerry also says he would keep the nation strong.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. JOHN KERRY, (D-MA), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I will never cede the security of the United States to any nation or any institution. I will always do what's necessary to protect our country.

But you and I and every American knows, Dwight Eisenhower knew it, Ronald Regan knew it, Richard Nixon knew it, Gerry Ford knew it, George Herbert Walker Bush knew it, that the United States of America is strongest when we lead the world and we lead allies.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

NGUYEN: Kerry plans to campaign in Ohio later today. Meanwhile, practice, practice, practice, that's what the number two men on the presidential tickets are doing this weekend.

John Edwards and Dick Cheney are preparing for their debate Tuesday in Cleveland. Edwards had wanted more of a town hall format for the debates. But the Bush camp insisted the two men face each other across a desk.

And if you'd liked this morning's e-mail question so much, or you did like it so much on Saturday, some great responses, we are bringing it back for an encore. Here's the question. Will you watch the next president debate and why?

Send your responses in to wam@cnn.com and we'll continue to read those on the air.

GRIFFIN: In the fight for Iraq, moping up in Samarra. U.S. troops are patrolling the streets of that Iraqi city going door to door now searching for diehard enemy fighters. American and Iraqi soldiers say they have reclaimed the city from insurgents.

More than 130 people killed in the battle for Samarra. That began on Thursday.

Meanwhile in Baghdad summer break over and it's back to school, despite ongoing security concerns. CNN's Brent Sadler visited one school font he first day of class.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BRENT SADLER, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Seven year old Efra Semi dresses up for the start of a new school year in Iraq, twice delayed by violence.

"I love school," she says. "It's where we learn."

It's her second year of learning in the post Saddam Hussein Iraq. Twelve months ago Efra was skipping to class. Her old school cordoned off by razor wire, guarded by an American tank

Efra's new school suffers similar problems to the last one, but now it's the turn of Iraqi guards to stand watch. Hussein Hussein shows a leg wound from shrapnel, he says, he received from a rocked propelled grenade fired from a wall into the school yard.

We are here to protect the children from kidnapping, says Hussein and to help if there's a bomb attack. But guards claim they have to buy their own guns and bullets and some parents fear insurgents or kidnappers might target the school.

"I fear for my daughter," says Efra's mother Semari. "There's no security."

(on camera): U.S. and Iraqi officials have made education a cornerstone of the new Iraq, pouring millions of dollars into teacher salaries, text books and fixing schools.

(voice-over): But so far this school has no basic text books for eager young minds to consume. They haven't arrived yet explains the head teacher to her new intake, perhaps next month. In the meantime they'll recycle this discarded pile of worn out text books purged of pictures of Saddam Hussein.

The system is slowly improving though. Teachers, for example, get regular pay, turn up for class and teach a curriculum where knowledge counts for more than loyalty to the regime. This school says Efra Semi is better than no school. I would start to cry, she says, because I love my school and the lessons she learns.

Brent Sadler, CNN Baghdad.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

NGUYEN: First they waited out the storms. Now Florida residents wait for their insurance companies to pay up. A look at the one million claims generated by this year's four hurricanes.

GRIFFIN: Plus the mysteries and misconceptions that surround Islam. That's the focus of our news SUNDAY MORNING look at the world religion plays in today's world.

NGUYEN: And what it takes to keep the president healthy. That's ahead on "HOUSE CALL." Stay with us. (COMMERCIAL BREAK)

GRIFFIN: From deployment dates tot he prices at a Baghdad Internet cafe, online help for military families. We'll go surfing in our next hour on CNN SUNDAY MORNING.

NGUYEN: But first, good morning second city. Less than five hours until kick off as the Chicago Bears host the Philadelphia Eagles. The windy city forecast and the weather for the rest of the country, that is next.

GRIFFIN: 8:12 in the morning. Here are the top stores. Mt. St. Helens doing more than just letting off steam. The volcano spewed a plume of steam earlier. Now it might have a bigger and more dangerous eruption in store. It could happened today. Evacuations are going on there.

The latest contract proposal from U.S. Airways isn't getting off the ground. Leaders of the pilots union haven't decided if they'll forward the proposal to its members. It calls for an average pay cut of 18 percent..

Finally the piano man married again. Singer Billy Joel married a 23 year old named Kate Lee at his Long Island mansion. Joel is 55. Third marriage for Billy Joel.

NGUYEN: Congratulations to them.

Well this morning we want to bring in Rob Marciano to talk about Mt. St. Helens and all the other things that are happening out there.

Good morning, Rob.

ROB MARCIANO, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Yes. Mt. St. Helens the most dramatic and interesting thing on the weather map today because the weather really turning out to be quite quiet and quite pleasant for a Sunday afternoon for the first weekend of October.

And in some spots feeling a little bit more like October. Not drastically cooler across the northeast but certainly cooler than yesterday. And then this cool batch -- that colder batch of air this is going to kind of reinforce the cold shot that came through yesterday.

So, as we go through the week here we'll start to see that cooling trend progress.

Not quite all the way down to Florida though. You'll probably see a couple of showers pop up. South Texas and in western Texas and through New Mexico as well, but other than that looking at pretty quiet conditions. Maybe the UP of Michigan seeing a couple of showers. That is about it.

Day time highs looking like this. Nice in Denver, 70 degrees there, 72 in Salt Lake, 68 San Fran, 68 in Chicago. Matter of fact, let's take the live shot from Chicago. Right now it's 37 degrees, but crystal clear, cobalt blue sky. Just a bit of a breeze in the air. You'll get return flow southwesterly winds today and that means that temperatures will be markedly warmer than they were yesterday. Look for highs to, in some spots, approach 70. So, a winner of a day across Chicago and much of the western great lakes as well as temperatures begin to moderate somewhat.

Touch briefly on what's going on as far as St. Helens. Portland, Seattle radar obviously nothing showing up. It's going to be a clear day there as well. Portland here, St. Helens right about there. The winds in the upper levels of the atmosphere, way up there coming out of the north and northeast.

At the lower levels they're real light and they're coming out of the southwest. So, if this explosion happens or eruption happens to the magnitude that they think is going to happen, which will be more than what we saw a few days ago, but less than what we saw in 1980, most of the ash and the fallout from this thing should go tot he north or maybe northwest or northeast, but in fairly lightly populated area.

If it becomes a more intense eruption than they think and sends that plum of garbage well into the atmosphere, 20, 30,000 feet than the northeasterly winds will take over and some of that stuff will get down to the northern suburbs of Portland. So that will be interesting later on today.

And I say when because these guys are saying imminent. We barely ever say that in the weather business. You know, that really puts you on the spot. So, they're pretty confidant that something is going to happen sometime today guys. So, we'll keep an eye on Mt. St. Helens.

NGUYEN: Yesterday at 5 p.m. they said it would happen in 24 hours, so the clock is ticking on this one.

MARCIANO: Yes, and the last time they said that it happened. So...

GRIFFIN: Believe them.

MARCIANO: ...I tend to believe them, yes.

GRIFFIN: Thanks, Rob.

NGUYEN: All right, Rob.

Well, the hurricanes may be over for now, but cleaning up isn't over by a long shot. It is a waiting game for the thousands of Floridians affected by Hurricanes Charley, Frances, Ivan and Jeanne, waiting for their insurance companies to pay up.

CNN's John Zarrella reports.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JOHN ZARRELLA, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Roofers spent the afternoon nailing down tar paper. In less than one month it's the second temporary fix to Barbara Motice's home. After direct hits from two hurricanes, first Frances then Jeanne there's not much left. The ceilings have collapsed. There's standing water on the floor and mold is growing on walls in nearly every room.

BARBARA MOTICE, HURRICANE VICTIM: I'm not living here. I can't live here I'd be sick with all this mold in here.

ZARRELLA: Now a month after Frances, Motice still has no idea how much money she'll be getting from insurance to rebuild.

MOTICE: This is from the first one, yes. No I haven't had an adjuster here from the first storm yet, American Superior.

ZARRELLA: It appears American Superior, Motice's insurer may not be able to cover her claims or others. In the wake of four hurricanes the plantation Florida based insurance company is the first to go tot he state for help because it was overwhelmed. The company, which has 60,000 customers is facing 7,000 claims from the four storms.

TOM GALLAGHER, FLORIDA CHIEF FINANCIAL OFFICER: We don't think they'll be able to handle those claims. We think they're probably going to run short of cash.

ZARRELLA: American Superior has voluntarily agreed to be put into rehabilitation, which means while the state believes the company can be saved it will for now be run by the Florida Department of Financial Services. Company officials told CNN they will exhaust every dollar, use every asset to pay claims.

State officials say policy holders like Barbara Motice don't have to worry. The state will guarantee claims are paid and now, the process will move more quickly.

GALLAGHER: There will e a much larger number of adjusters that are available to them than were available under American Superior that work for the Florida Insurance Guarantee Association. And so I think they're going to get faster and quicker service.

ZARRELLA: State officials say here are no other companies in trouble that they know of. So far, as a result of the four storms, one million insurance claims have been file.

John Zarrella, CNN Miami.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

GRIFFIN: Understanding Islam from its role in international politics to its connections to Christianity. That is the topic we will tackle in our new SUNDAY MORNING religion segment. That is next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

GRIFFIN: A new segment here on CNN SUNDAY MORNING. Every week at this time we're going to take a look at how religion plays a role in our world and in our lives. And today our focus is Islam. It's the second largest religion in the world.

Osma Gul Hussan, author of "Why I Am A Muslim" is in Los Angeles to talk about this. Good morning to you.

OSMA GULL HUSSAN, AUTHOR, AMERICAN MUSLIMS": Good morning.

GRIFFIN: Let's begin with the hard question. When non-Muslims, especially non-Muslim Americans who don't know anybody who is Muslim look at all the violence and the beheading that's going on in Iraq, the attacks of 9/11, all in the name of Allah, the question we ask is does your religion tolerate or ask people to kill in the name of the god?

HUSSAN: Well, no of course not. I think it's reasonable to ask that question. But it's also reasonable to understand that good people like me there's no way we would be Muslim if we thought that Islam justified this kind of violence.

Islam, like any other religion, is open to being manipulated by extremist, by people who are interested in making a violent and political interpretation of the religion. Unfortunately, that's what we're seeing with Islam.

In fact what Islam says is that the only time that you can kill someone is in self defense. Only justified self defense killing is allowed. Other than that it's not allowed. And certainly you're not supposed to attack civilians in Islam. Women and children are considered civilians.

A lot of the things that terrorists have done is just totally outside Islam. It says in the Koran, "Oh people if you kill one person it's as if you've killed all of mankind." So killing one person is equivalent to killing many more than that.

GRIFFIN: Which leads me to my next question because I mean there 1.1 billion Muslims worldwide. Certainly the vast majority are peaceful people. Where is the outrage or the rising up to take back this peaceful religion from this minority who's perverting it?

HUSSAN: Right. Well, that's another good question, Drew. Like you said there's over a billion Muslims in the world. So certainly if we were all bent on a violent interpretation of Islam I think we'd see even more terrorism and violence than we do today. So that's something to keep in mind. There's more Muslims in the world than there are Americans, for instance.

Beyond that, you're question why aren't Muslims doing more, why aren't we hearing more. Well actually we are hearing a lot from Muslims. The problem is there's not a lot of media coverage of it unfortunately.

Certainly I get calls from the media, you know, less and less for segments like this where it's, you know, let's learn about Islam, let's hear about Islam and let's hear that Islam is against terrorism. I get more calls for, you know, al-Jazeera showed this. Can you respond? There's less and less discussion of what Islam stands for in the media.

Every American Muslim group condemned 9/11. And the number of moderate Muslim organizations that have been founded here in the United States and in Europe has basically quadrupled since 9/11. So there is a huge outreach. There is a huge statement being made. It's just not being covered as well as we'd like it to be.

GRIFFIN: Tell me about your religion, its foundation. It came sort of from Christianity, but you don't believe that Jesus is the son of God. Is that right?

HUSSAN: Well about 1400 years ago the Prophet Mohammed received the first revelation of the Koran and he was meditating in a cave in Arabia. Basically he was founding a new religion that had not been seen in Arabia before, a religion of monotheism, belief in one God.

In Arabia, at that time, the people followed a pagan polytheistic religion. They believed in multiple gods. This was quite a revolution for Arabia. People in Arabia had heard about Judaism and Christianity but they had not had their own monotheistic faith.

So the prophet Mohammed received this first revelation. And the major belief in Islam is belief in one god. And that is something that we have in common with Jews and Christians. We also believe that we are the children of Abraham, just as Jews and Christians are.

We believe that Abraham is our forefather. We believe that Ishmael, we are descended from Ishmael, who is Isaac's brother who Jews and Christians believe that they are descended from.

An entire chapter of the Koran is devoted to the Virgin Mary and the belief that Jesus was a prophet of God. We do not believe that he was divine though. We do not believe that he was the son of God. But we do believe in his teachings that he was sent by God to -- sent to the people of the world.

GRIFFIN: Osma Gul Hussan, the author of "Why I Am A Muslim." You kick off our religion segment and I couldn't think of a better person to do it. Thanks for joining us from Los Angeles.

HUSSAN: Thank you.

NGUYEN: Very good information there. Well, we want some information from you. Here's our e-mail question of the day. Will you watch the next presidential debate and why? Send in those responses to wam@cnn.com.

And in fact, we've got one up for you this morning.

GRIFFIN: We do. It's from Frank. He's in the swing state of Ohio. They will not say anything they have not said a thousand times. So if you don't mind, I'll just play my computer games and go to bed.

OK, Frank. Have a nice night.

NGUYEN: Well, hopefully others will be watching and tell us why you'll be watching. Again, wam@cnn.com.

Behind the scenes insights into one of the most sophisticated medical units in the world. It is located at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue. We'll show you. That's next on "HOUSE CALL" after these headlines.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

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Aired October 3, 2004 - 08:00   ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
DREW GRIFFIN, CNN ANCHOR: Here's what we have for you on CNN SUNDAY MORNING this hour. The school year begins in Iraq, this time with no U.S. tanks or soldiers guarding schools. Brent Sadler takes a look at education in the new Iraq.
John Zarrella looks at the state of the insurance business in Florida in the wake of four hurricanes.

And our new SUNDAY MORNING religion feature takes a look at the influence of Islam, the second largest religion in the world.

BETTY NGUYEN, CNN ANCHOR: Now the volcano experts are saying the Mt. St. Helens eruption Friday may have just been a warm up. CNN's Donna Tetreault is on the phone live from Castle Rock, Washington with the latest there this morning.

Good morning to you, Donna.

DONNA TETREAULT, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Betty. Well, there has been a lot of activity this weekend. The alert level was raised to three, and that means an eruption is imminent. Now scientist first thought magma, which is lava that hasn't yet made it to the ground wasn't moving to the surface. But after reexamination yesterday, scientists with the U.S.G.S discovered the magma was moving upward. And at noon yesterday a puff of steam spilled out of the crater.

The earthquakes have stopped, but a harmonic tremor was in play. This is a steady, even vibration moving fresh magma to the surface. And when there's that fresh magma at the surface, an explosion will follow. The harmonic tremor lasted for about 50 minutes. This is a very serious event.

All of this led to evacuations. The Johnson Ridge Visitors Center was evacuated along with the media, when scientist found that another eruption could happen at any time. And at this point, seven miles out is a safe distance away from the volcano.

Again, this is the most activity Mt. St. Helens has seen since 1980.

Betty.

NGUYEN: Let's talk about those evacuations. Are there any homes or businesses nearby that they're thinking about evacuating as well? TETREAULT: At this point the seven miles out is not -- there aren't any homes. The nearest city is Cougar and there has been some advisories that if there was some explosion with ash that could effect that area. But at this time point yesterday it was just the evacuations of that visitors center and the media.

NGUYEN: And the seismic activity this morning what has that been like? And is that similar to what happened just before the 1980 blast that killed 57 people? Are they comparing the two just yet?

TETREAULT: They have talked about a comparison. They've said that the seismic activity was the same. The difference here though is they said that the seismic activity, all the earthquakes were taking place in a more shallow area in the crater. It's not as deep as what had occurred in 1980.

But again this is all still a changing very precarious situation. And again they did say though that the earthquakes did start up again after that tremor.

NGUYEN: CNN's Donna Tetreault on the phone from Castle Rock, Washington watching what's going on with Mt. St. Helens, which is expected to have some kind of eruption sometime today.

GRIFFIN: The first poll taken since the first presidential debate is showing John Kerry making up some ground in "Newsweek" poll. The registered voters has Kerry with 47 percent support. George Bush 45 percent. Statistically that is a dead heat.

Bush led 49 to 43 percent in a "Newsweek" poll last month. Ralph Nader has 2 percent, as you can see.

And who do you think won the first debate? Sixty one percent of those polled think Kerry was the winner, 19 percent say it was the president, 16 percent say no winner or that it was a tie.

Who would make America more secure. George Bush says it is not John Kerry. At a campaign stop in Ohio he brought up Kerry comment from their first debate, when Kerry Kerry said "any preemptive strike by the U.S. should pass a global test." The president says that's not the way to go.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GEORGE W. BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Senator Kerry's approach to foreign policy, we give foreign governments veto power over national security decisions.

(APPLAUSE)

I have a different view.

(APPLAUSE)

When our country is in danger, the president's job is not to take an international poll. (APPLAUSE)

The presidents job is to defend America.

(APPLAUSE)

(END VIDEO CLIP)

GRIFFIN: The president is back in Washington. He has no public event son this day.

NGUYEN: John Kerry is firing back. When it comes to questions of national security, Kerry says George Bush's policies have hurt America's standing in the world especially among its allies. Kerry also says he would keep the nation strong.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. JOHN KERRY, (D-MA), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I will never cede the security of the United States to any nation or any institution. I will always do what's necessary to protect our country.

But you and I and every American knows, Dwight Eisenhower knew it, Ronald Regan knew it, Richard Nixon knew it, Gerry Ford knew it, George Herbert Walker Bush knew it, that the United States of America is strongest when we lead the world and we lead allies.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

NGUYEN: Kerry plans to campaign in Ohio later today. Meanwhile, practice, practice, practice, that's what the number two men on the presidential tickets are doing this weekend.

John Edwards and Dick Cheney are preparing for their debate Tuesday in Cleveland. Edwards had wanted more of a town hall format for the debates. But the Bush camp insisted the two men face each other across a desk.

And if you'd liked this morning's e-mail question so much, or you did like it so much on Saturday, some great responses, we are bringing it back for an encore. Here's the question. Will you watch the next president debate and why?

Send your responses in to wam@cnn.com and we'll continue to read those on the air.

GRIFFIN: In the fight for Iraq, moping up in Samarra. U.S. troops are patrolling the streets of that Iraqi city going door to door now searching for diehard enemy fighters. American and Iraqi soldiers say they have reclaimed the city from insurgents.

More than 130 people killed in the battle for Samarra. That began on Thursday.

Meanwhile in Baghdad summer break over and it's back to school, despite ongoing security concerns. CNN's Brent Sadler visited one school font he first day of class.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BRENT SADLER, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Seven year old Efra Semi dresses up for the start of a new school year in Iraq, twice delayed by violence.

"I love school," she says. "It's where we learn."

It's her second year of learning in the post Saddam Hussein Iraq. Twelve months ago Efra was skipping to class. Her old school cordoned off by razor wire, guarded by an American tank

Efra's new school suffers similar problems to the last one, but now it's the turn of Iraqi guards to stand watch. Hussein Hussein shows a leg wound from shrapnel, he says, he received from a rocked propelled grenade fired from a wall into the school yard.

We are here to protect the children from kidnapping, says Hussein and to help if there's a bomb attack. But guards claim they have to buy their own guns and bullets and some parents fear insurgents or kidnappers might target the school.

"I fear for my daughter," says Efra's mother Semari. "There's no security."

(on camera): U.S. and Iraqi officials have made education a cornerstone of the new Iraq, pouring millions of dollars into teacher salaries, text books and fixing schools.

(voice-over): But so far this school has no basic text books for eager young minds to consume. They haven't arrived yet explains the head teacher to her new intake, perhaps next month. In the meantime they'll recycle this discarded pile of worn out text books purged of pictures of Saddam Hussein.

The system is slowly improving though. Teachers, for example, get regular pay, turn up for class and teach a curriculum where knowledge counts for more than loyalty to the regime. This school says Efra Semi is better than no school. I would start to cry, she says, because I love my school and the lessons she learns.

Brent Sadler, CNN Baghdad.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

NGUYEN: First they waited out the storms. Now Florida residents wait for their insurance companies to pay up. A look at the one million claims generated by this year's four hurricanes.

GRIFFIN: Plus the mysteries and misconceptions that surround Islam. That's the focus of our news SUNDAY MORNING look at the world religion plays in today's world.

NGUYEN: And what it takes to keep the president healthy. That's ahead on "HOUSE CALL." Stay with us. (COMMERCIAL BREAK)

GRIFFIN: From deployment dates tot he prices at a Baghdad Internet cafe, online help for military families. We'll go surfing in our next hour on CNN SUNDAY MORNING.

NGUYEN: But first, good morning second city. Less than five hours until kick off as the Chicago Bears host the Philadelphia Eagles. The windy city forecast and the weather for the rest of the country, that is next.

GRIFFIN: 8:12 in the morning. Here are the top stores. Mt. St. Helens doing more than just letting off steam. The volcano spewed a plume of steam earlier. Now it might have a bigger and more dangerous eruption in store. It could happened today. Evacuations are going on there.

The latest contract proposal from U.S. Airways isn't getting off the ground. Leaders of the pilots union haven't decided if they'll forward the proposal to its members. It calls for an average pay cut of 18 percent..

Finally the piano man married again. Singer Billy Joel married a 23 year old named Kate Lee at his Long Island mansion. Joel is 55. Third marriage for Billy Joel.

NGUYEN: Congratulations to them.

Well this morning we want to bring in Rob Marciano to talk about Mt. St. Helens and all the other things that are happening out there.

Good morning, Rob.

ROB MARCIANO, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Yes. Mt. St. Helens the most dramatic and interesting thing on the weather map today because the weather really turning out to be quite quiet and quite pleasant for a Sunday afternoon for the first weekend of October.

And in some spots feeling a little bit more like October. Not drastically cooler across the northeast but certainly cooler than yesterday. And then this cool batch -- that colder batch of air this is going to kind of reinforce the cold shot that came through yesterday.

So, as we go through the week here we'll start to see that cooling trend progress.

Not quite all the way down to Florida though. You'll probably see a couple of showers pop up. South Texas and in western Texas and through New Mexico as well, but other than that looking at pretty quiet conditions. Maybe the UP of Michigan seeing a couple of showers. That is about it.

Day time highs looking like this. Nice in Denver, 70 degrees there, 72 in Salt Lake, 68 San Fran, 68 in Chicago. Matter of fact, let's take the live shot from Chicago. Right now it's 37 degrees, but crystal clear, cobalt blue sky. Just a bit of a breeze in the air. You'll get return flow southwesterly winds today and that means that temperatures will be markedly warmer than they were yesterday. Look for highs to, in some spots, approach 70. So, a winner of a day across Chicago and much of the western great lakes as well as temperatures begin to moderate somewhat.

Touch briefly on what's going on as far as St. Helens. Portland, Seattle radar obviously nothing showing up. It's going to be a clear day there as well. Portland here, St. Helens right about there. The winds in the upper levels of the atmosphere, way up there coming out of the north and northeast.

At the lower levels they're real light and they're coming out of the southwest. So, if this explosion happens or eruption happens to the magnitude that they think is going to happen, which will be more than what we saw a few days ago, but less than what we saw in 1980, most of the ash and the fallout from this thing should go tot he north or maybe northwest or northeast, but in fairly lightly populated area.

If it becomes a more intense eruption than they think and sends that plum of garbage well into the atmosphere, 20, 30,000 feet than the northeasterly winds will take over and some of that stuff will get down to the northern suburbs of Portland. So that will be interesting later on today.

And I say when because these guys are saying imminent. We barely ever say that in the weather business. You know, that really puts you on the spot. So, they're pretty confidant that something is going to happen sometime today guys. So, we'll keep an eye on Mt. St. Helens.

NGUYEN: Yesterday at 5 p.m. they said it would happen in 24 hours, so the clock is ticking on this one.

MARCIANO: Yes, and the last time they said that it happened. So...

GRIFFIN: Believe them.

MARCIANO: ...I tend to believe them, yes.

GRIFFIN: Thanks, Rob.

NGUYEN: All right, Rob.

Well, the hurricanes may be over for now, but cleaning up isn't over by a long shot. It is a waiting game for the thousands of Floridians affected by Hurricanes Charley, Frances, Ivan and Jeanne, waiting for their insurance companies to pay up.

CNN's John Zarrella reports.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JOHN ZARRELLA, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Roofers spent the afternoon nailing down tar paper. In less than one month it's the second temporary fix to Barbara Motice's home. After direct hits from two hurricanes, first Frances then Jeanne there's not much left. The ceilings have collapsed. There's standing water on the floor and mold is growing on walls in nearly every room.

BARBARA MOTICE, HURRICANE VICTIM: I'm not living here. I can't live here I'd be sick with all this mold in here.

ZARRELLA: Now a month after Frances, Motice still has no idea how much money she'll be getting from insurance to rebuild.

MOTICE: This is from the first one, yes. No I haven't had an adjuster here from the first storm yet, American Superior.

ZARRELLA: It appears American Superior, Motice's insurer may not be able to cover her claims or others. In the wake of four hurricanes the plantation Florida based insurance company is the first to go tot he state for help because it was overwhelmed. The company, which has 60,000 customers is facing 7,000 claims from the four storms.

TOM GALLAGHER, FLORIDA CHIEF FINANCIAL OFFICER: We don't think they'll be able to handle those claims. We think they're probably going to run short of cash.

ZARRELLA: American Superior has voluntarily agreed to be put into rehabilitation, which means while the state believes the company can be saved it will for now be run by the Florida Department of Financial Services. Company officials told CNN they will exhaust every dollar, use every asset to pay claims.

State officials say policy holders like Barbara Motice don't have to worry. The state will guarantee claims are paid and now, the process will move more quickly.

GALLAGHER: There will e a much larger number of adjusters that are available to them than were available under American Superior that work for the Florida Insurance Guarantee Association. And so I think they're going to get faster and quicker service.

ZARRELLA: State officials say here are no other companies in trouble that they know of. So far, as a result of the four storms, one million insurance claims have been file.

John Zarrella, CNN Miami.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

GRIFFIN: Understanding Islam from its role in international politics to its connections to Christianity. That is the topic we will tackle in our new SUNDAY MORNING religion segment. That is next.

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GRIFFIN: A new segment here on CNN SUNDAY MORNING. Every week at this time we're going to take a look at how religion plays a role in our world and in our lives. And today our focus is Islam. It's the second largest religion in the world.

Osma Gul Hussan, author of "Why I Am A Muslim" is in Los Angeles to talk about this. Good morning to you.

OSMA GULL HUSSAN, AUTHOR, AMERICAN MUSLIMS": Good morning.

GRIFFIN: Let's begin with the hard question. When non-Muslims, especially non-Muslim Americans who don't know anybody who is Muslim look at all the violence and the beheading that's going on in Iraq, the attacks of 9/11, all in the name of Allah, the question we ask is does your religion tolerate or ask people to kill in the name of the god?

HUSSAN: Well, no of course not. I think it's reasonable to ask that question. But it's also reasonable to understand that good people like me there's no way we would be Muslim if we thought that Islam justified this kind of violence.

Islam, like any other religion, is open to being manipulated by extremist, by people who are interested in making a violent and political interpretation of the religion. Unfortunately, that's what we're seeing with Islam.

In fact what Islam says is that the only time that you can kill someone is in self defense. Only justified self defense killing is allowed. Other than that it's not allowed. And certainly you're not supposed to attack civilians in Islam. Women and children are considered civilians.

A lot of the things that terrorists have done is just totally outside Islam. It says in the Koran, "Oh people if you kill one person it's as if you've killed all of mankind." So killing one person is equivalent to killing many more than that.

GRIFFIN: Which leads me to my next question because I mean there 1.1 billion Muslims worldwide. Certainly the vast majority are peaceful people. Where is the outrage or the rising up to take back this peaceful religion from this minority who's perverting it?

HUSSAN: Right. Well, that's another good question, Drew. Like you said there's over a billion Muslims in the world. So certainly if we were all bent on a violent interpretation of Islam I think we'd see even more terrorism and violence than we do today. So that's something to keep in mind. There's more Muslims in the world than there are Americans, for instance.

Beyond that, you're question why aren't Muslims doing more, why aren't we hearing more. Well actually we are hearing a lot from Muslims. The problem is there's not a lot of media coverage of it unfortunately.

Certainly I get calls from the media, you know, less and less for segments like this where it's, you know, let's learn about Islam, let's hear about Islam and let's hear that Islam is against terrorism. I get more calls for, you know, al-Jazeera showed this. Can you respond? There's less and less discussion of what Islam stands for in the media.

Every American Muslim group condemned 9/11. And the number of moderate Muslim organizations that have been founded here in the United States and in Europe has basically quadrupled since 9/11. So there is a huge outreach. There is a huge statement being made. It's just not being covered as well as we'd like it to be.

GRIFFIN: Tell me about your religion, its foundation. It came sort of from Christianity, but you don't believe that Jesus is the son of God. Is that right?

HUSSAN: Well about 1400 years ago the Prophet Mohammed received the first revelation of the Koran and he was meditating in a cave in Arabia. Basically he was founding a new religion that had not been seen in Arabia before, a religion of monotheism, belief in one God.

In Arabia, at that time, the people followed a pagan polytheistic religion. They believed in multiple gods. This was quite a revolution for Arabia. People in Arabia had heard about Judaism and Christianity but they had not had their own monotheistic faith.

So the prophet Mohammed received this first revelation. And the major belief in Islam is belief in one god. And that is something that we have in common with Jews and Christians. We also believe that we are the children of Abraham, just as Jews and Christians are.

We believe that Abraham is our forefather. We believe that Ishmael, we are descended from Ishmael, who is Isaac's brother who Jews and Christians believe that they are descended from.

An entire chapter of the Koran is devoted to the Virgin Mary and the belief that Jesus was a prophet of God. We do not believe that he was divine though. We do not believe that he was the son of God. But we do believe in his teachings that he was sent by God to -- sent to the people of the world.

GRIFFIN: Osma Gul Hussan, the author of "Why I Am A Muslim." You kick off our religion segment and I couldn't think of a better person to do it. Thanks for joining us from Los Angeles.

HUSSAN: Thank you.

NGUYEN: Very good information there. Well, we want some information from you. Here's our e-mail question of the day. Will you watch the next presidential debate and why? Send in those responses to wam@cnn.com.

And in fact, we've got one up for you this morning.

GRIFFIN: We do. It's from Frank. He's in the swing state of Ohio. They will not say anything they have not said a thousand times. So if you don't mind, I'll just play my computer games and go to bed.

OK, Frank. Have a nice night.

NGUYEN: Well, hopefully others will be watching and tell us why you'll be watching. Again, wam@cnn.com.

Behind the scenes insights into one of the most sophisticated medical units in the world. It is located at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue. We'll show you. That's next on "HOUSE CALL" after these headlines.

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